Guoan knelt down three times and looked up at the Empress Dowager Cixi, and said: "Lafayette, the subordinates have urgent matters to report to Lafayette, which is related to the secrets of the Qing Dynasty," since the secrets of the Qing Dynasty are not enough for outsiders, the Empress Dowager Cixi is also well aware of the seriousness of this matter, so she led the imperial family into the temple. Guoan then entered the monastery and closed the gates. The gate of the temple is guarded by guards, and no one is allowed to approach the gate of the temple. Li Lianying, the chief eunuch, rushed forward and wiped the dust off the stool with her sleeve, and the Empress Dowager Cixi sat down and said, "Guoan, if there is anything urgent, let's talk about it." ”

Guoan still knelt on the ground, looked left and right, and said, "Please Lafayette back to the left and right." ”

"You are bold," the chief eunuch Li Lianying made his debut.

"You all stand down, the mourning family is fine," the eunuchs and their palace maids and royal relatives on the left and right all withdrew from the temple gate.

"Now you can talk about it."

Guoan raised his head suddenly, looked at the Empress Dowager Cixi sitting in front of him, and said, "Qi Qi Lafayette, after the younger brother returns to his hometown, recruit generals, train soldiers, and prepare for trouble." After hearing this, the Empress Dowager Cixi was immediately surprised, and pondered for a long time before saying, "Who do you say is ready to raise troops?" ”

"Sichuan regimental training envoy and recruiting envoy He Guozhi, this is the important note drafted by the ministers to expose the matter of the country's rule of raising troops, and also invite Lafayette to take a look," Guoan knelt down and presented this recital. After the Empress Dowager Cixi took this note, she put it aside and said, "You go back to the post house to rest first, and wait for the summons of the mourning family." ”

"Yes, the subordinate will retire," Guoan withdrew, after getting up. The Empress Dowager Cixi immediately called in the chief eunuch Li Lianying and said, "What is the emperor busy with today?" ”

"According to the minions' inquiries, the emperor summoned Yuan Shikai, the direct subordinate envoy who commanded the newly built army, in the Summer Palace, and was promoted to the candidate of the squire."

"He's impatient, after he is in power, the next step is to do something to the mourning family," the Empress Dowager Cixi sat here, looking at the temple gate, she was a little sad, and her tears were about to come out.

Li Lianying, the chief eunuch, stepped forward, looked up at the two lines of tears of the Queen Mother, and said, "Lafayette, don't hurt the phoenix body, Lafayette," Li Lianying saw that the Empress Dowager Cixi was so sad, and she was also sad together, and the old tears flowed.

At this time, the Empress Dowager Cixi was still unwilling, and said: "Although he is not the biological son of the mourning family, the mourning family treats him as his own as if he were the biological son of the mourning family, and the mourning family is dedicated to him, hoping that he can be like a real king in the world to achieve the great cause of the world, why does the mourning family not want to hand over the power to live for a long time, how can he understand the mind of the mourning family, and how can the mourning family hand over the world to him to manage with such a will." ”

"This is the demagogy of the reformists and others, how can the emperor be so tempted when he is young?"

"That's it, that's it, such an emperor, our Manchurian world will sooner or later change to the world of the Han family, quickly pass on Prince Qing Yixuan, Prince Li Shifeng, and Yushi Yang Chongyi will come to see the mourning family immediately."

"Chirp," Li Lianying, the chief eunuch, withdrew, and called Prince Yixuan of Jinqing, Prince Shifeng of Li, and Yang Chongyi of Yushi into the temple. When these princes saw the Queen Mother, they bowed and sat down. The Empress Dowager Cixi circulated the recital of the national security book to everyone to see.

After seeing it, Yang Chongyi was very surprised and said: "Queen Mother, the rule of the country is going to launch a mutiny, and I will clear the danger." This He Guozhi is a member of the Restoration, a hardliner of change, as far as the minister knows, this He Guozhi is the son of He Jiehao, the former minister of military aircraft, I heard that this person is both talented in humanities and martial arts, and in his early years, he was admitted to the Jinshi and passed the assessment of the household department, but this person was arrogant, failed to be an official in the imperial court, opened a boxing gym in his hometown, recruited disciples, and his reputation was very high. The son of An Le Hou Lianyi was killed by him. ”

"Well, the mourning family already knows that the emperor is a generous favor to their He family, and his son will rebel, Yang Chongyi."

"The minister is here."

"Go and find out the identity of this He Guoan."

"The next official will check immediately."

The Empress Dowager Cixi issued an edict to Rong Lu, the governor of Zhili, to urgently urge Yuan Shikai to return to Tianjin on the grounds of the war between Britain and Russia. On September 17, 1898, Emperor Guangxu summoned Yuan Shikai again and ordered Rong Lu, the governor of Zhili, to do his own thing, so as to weaken Rong Lu's military power and act cheaply. On September 18, 1898, Yang Chongyi, the imperial historian, wrote to Cixi, saying: "The reformers formed a party for personal gain, demagoguery, disrupted the government and government, cited Fusang, and were deeply afraid of the calamity of the sect and society, and called on the empress dowager to train the government on the same day to curb the chaos." Late at night on September 18, Tan Xitong rushed to Fahua Temple to meet Yuan Shikai. The bonfire in the temple rose, Yuan Shikai lay on the straw mat and fell asleep, his snoring was like thunder, and he suddenly felt that footsteps were approaching. Yuan Shikai paused, drew his sword, and said, "Who?" ”

"General Yuan, it's down," Tan said as he walked in to face Yuan Shikai.

After Yuan Shikai saw that it was Tan Yutong, he sat down peacefully and said, "Oh, it turned out to be Brother Fusheng." Yuan Shikai sat on the straw mat, looked at Tan Xiantong, and said, "Brother Fusheng, please take a seat." ”

Tan Xiantong stepped forward and sat by the bonfire, Yuan Shikai faced Tan Xiantong and said, "I don't know why Brother Fusheng visited the place late at night?" ”

Tan Feitong looked at Yuan Shikai's eyes, stretched out his hand on the bonfire, baked his hand warm, and at the same time pondered, after pondering for a long time, he said: "The Empress Dowager and the Governor of Zhili, Rong Lu, conspired to abolish the current saint, and passed on the emperor's secret edict to order Yuan Shikai to envoy Yuan Shikai to serve the King of Bingqin from now on, kill Rong Lu and surround the Summer Palace and put the Empress Dowager under house arrest. ”

Yuan Shikai got up and knelt down, and said: "The minister respectfully obeys the secret edict, and the matter will start immediately after returning to Tianjin." ”

"In this way, the emperor will be relieved, okay, let's go first." Tan Feitong got up and was about to leave, Yuan Shikai got up, and then Tan Feitong turned around and said, "General, please stay." ”

"Brother Fusheng walks slowly."

There is a strategist by Yuan Shikai's side, and this person is Xu Shichang. After Xu Shichang saw Tan Yu leaving, he walked into the temple and said, "Comfort Pavilion." ”

Yuan Shikai turned around and said with a smile: "Brother Juren, come, you and I are walking by the bonfire, the autumn breeze is cool." ”

Xu Shichang walked beside the bonfire with Yuan Shikai, looked at the raging fire, and said, "Comfort Pavilion, do you really want to respect the Holy Will and go back to Tianjin to make trouble." ”

"No, if I go back to Tianjin this time, it will be difficult to protect myself, so I will stay here for a few days to observe the direction of the wind. Brother Juren, please return to the capital again to inquire about all the movements of the imperial court. ”

"Okay, I'll go."

At midnight, Emperor Guangxu summoned Yang Rui again, Yang Rui entered the palace overnight, entered the Qinzheng Palace, met the Guangxu Emperor in front of him, and knelt down and said: "Long live my emperor, long live, long live." ”

Emperor Guangxu was still sitting in front of the desk, and said very calmly: "Yang Aiqing, don't be polite, get up." ”

"Emperor Xie," Yang Rui got up and said.

"Sit," Yang Rui sat aside. Only then did Emperor Guangxu become sad and said, "Yang Aiqing, what do you think of Yuan Shikai?" ”

"Yuan Shikai is a general, but this person is extremely deep and difficult to understand. The emperor, Guozhi recruited troops in his hometown, and now it has been effective, and he can summon Guozhi into the king of Jingqin and seal him to crusade against the general. The country governs his people quite like a father, he can lead troops to govern the country and the country, and he is loyal to the emperor. ”

"I complain, you come to draft the edict." Emperor Guangxu stood up, standing in front of Yang Rui, constantly pondering. Yang Rui sat next to Emperor Guangxu, held the pen in his hand, and looked up at Emperor Guangxu beside him. Emperor Guangxu paced around in front of Yang Rui, and complained: "The queen mother wants to abolish me, my throne is unstable, and I am afraid that the law of change will die, and the Qing Dynasty is in danger." Feng Zhaozhi made He Guozhi a rebellious general and a scholar of Lingyuan Pavilion, so that he could lead troops into King Jingqin, kill Rong Lu, and put the Queen Mother under house arrest. This secret edict was issued, but what I didn't expect was that when the messenger just left Beijing, he was intercepted by people sent by Xu Shichang and returned to Fahua Temple to see Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai got up and stepped forward.

"Brother Juren, what is the movement in the capital?"

"Weiting, there is the emperor's secret edict, you can take a good look at it yourself," After finishing speaking, Xu Shichang took out the secret edict that intercepted the emperor.

On September 20, Yuan Shikai returned to Tianjin, and the next night, Yuan Shikai heard the news of Yang Chongyi's coup d'état from Beijing, thinking that the plot had been leaked, and in order to avoid being implicated in the crime of rebellion, he reported Tan Chongtong's plan and the emperor's secret edict to Rong Lu.

On September 19, 1898, in the evening, the Empress Dowager Cixi abruptly left the Summer Palace and returned to Ouchi. Emperor Guangxu lived in Yingtai from the solstice. Kang Youwei visited the British missionary Timothy Lee to no avail, and then visited the former Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi to ask for lobbying the Empress Dowager Cixi. That night, Huang Shaoji persuaded Kang Youwei to leave Beijing quickly, and late at night, Liang Qichao, Kang Guangren and others begged Kang Youwei to leave Beijing, and then Tan Xi wrote a letter in the same hand, the letter said, "The conspiracy was revealed, and Brother Wenshan took the overall situation as the priority, escorted Mr. to overseas and find another trouble." ”

In the early morning of September 20, 1898, Kang Youwei left Beijing with his servant Li Tang. Emperor Guangxu summoned Yuan Shikai for the third time, after which Yuan Shikai returned to Tianjin. Emperor Guangxu received former Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi in the Qianqing Palace and had an intimate conversation with him. That night, he received a secret report from Rong Lu, saying that Emperor Guangxu had summoned Sichuan to recruit He Guozhi to return to King Jingqin and put the Empress Dowager under house arrest. On the same night, the Empress Dowager Cixi issued an edict, and the Empress Dowager said: "Feng Nanchong scribe He Guoan is the minister of the Qincha, immediately arrest He Jiehao and He Guozhi, and sentence him to death and confiscate his family property, and his family will be enslaved for life with Ningguta." "Guoan returned immediately after receiving the Empress Dowager's decree.

In the early morning of September 21, 1898, the Empress Dowager Cixi rushed from the Summer Palace to the Forbidden City, went straight to the palace of Emperor Guangxu, and imprisoned Emperor Guangxu in Yingtai, Zhongnanhai.

After receiving Tan Yutong's letter, Guozhi opened it and was disappointed, saying: "The general trend has gone, what can I do?" ”

Rong Zongjing stepped forward, stood next to Guozhi, and said, "Alliance leader, what happened in the capital?" ”

"The matter of changing the law died abruptly, and they were betrayed by Yuan Shikai."

After hearing this, Lu Kan of Shunyi Gate took the case and said angrily: "Traitor, alliance leader, we will lead troops to attack the capital, kill the traitor and eliminate the demon, and the Qing monarch will be on the side." ”

Bai Yunfei of the Bai family sat aside and said, "Master Lu, don't be reckless. ”

"Anyway, it's all a death, and if you want to die, you will die vigorously."

"Master Lu, let's take a look at the alliance leader first and see what he says?" After Bai Jiafei finished speaking, he looked at Guozhi.

Yun Dousheng of Wuwei Hall couldn't sit still, got up and stepped forward and said, "Alliance leader, if you say a word, what do you want us to do?" ”

"Keep Qingshan here, don't be afraid of running out of firewood, and you will each go home and disband those brothers, so as not to harm them and their families."

"I'm unwilling, alliance leader, we have worked hard to recruit thousands of soldiers and horses to enter the capital."

"Yes, we only have a few thousand people, can we compete with Rong Lu's Beiyang Army? The emperor is under house arrest, and they have no backbone in their hearts, can they succeed? Even if we enter the capital, what can we do? The blood is flowing like a river, and those great powers are watching our civil strife, so that they can each support a political power, and when they fall into such a war, our Qing Dynasty has already existed in name only, and they can take advantage of the situation to enter and carve up our troubled country. ”

"Alliance leader, what are we going to do next?" Rong Zongjing said very calmly.